Urban Lunch How Switzerland Ended its Drug Crisis скачать в хорошем качестве

Urban Lunch How Switzerland Ended its Drug Crisis

Jakob Huber and André Seidenberg were two men at the centre of Switzerland's drug crisis in the 1980s and 1990s. At that time Switzerland had the largest open drug scenes in Europe. They worked to bring in policies that brought an end to large areas of homelessness, drug addiction, crime and disorder. They developed the four pillars approach and introduced Harm Reduction into the mix. Vancouver and British Columbia have implemented all of the Harm Reduction techniques, but instead of healthy cities and healthy lives all of the indicators have gotten worse, much worse. There are many variations of Harm Reduction. Vancouver practises a very different type than what is used in Switzerland. There was a fierce debate in Switzerland about the right approach and they settled on the kind that led to their success. Harm Reduction for the Swiss means not just reducing the harm to people with addictions but also reducing harm to the community. It is not just to stop doing harmful things but to start doing positive things to undo the harm that is already ongoing. The Vancouver Model involves segregating drug addicted people into separate geographical areas or in separate buildings, something that does not happen in Switzerland. Vancouver began shutting down its low income SRO Rooming Houses in the early 1970s but it mandates that SROs must remain open in the Downtown Eastside. Surveys show that the majority of people living in the Downtown Eastside would rather live in another neighbourhood or city in independent housing of diverse people. In Vancouver Harm Reduction is the provision of a series of techniques that but that does not include connecting people to be healthy mixed communities with reciprocal relationships. There is a new movement which is tentatively called Accountable Harm Reduction. It seeks to adapt the Swiss Model to the situation of Vancouver. Let us learn from the people who ended the largest open drug scenes in Europe and brought positive improvements to the lives of people with addictions and the communities they live in. The Urban Lunches seek to introduce Vancouver to new ideas to address intractable problems. They are hosted by Sam Sullivan and Global Civic.